The internet and DIY projects

I spend lots of time doing searches on the internet for, oh gosh, so many things.  From home improvement, soap making, animal ailments, recipes, crafts, travel destinations, to do-it-yourself ideas.  I have come to love Pinterest and Houzz.com and of course YouTube, especially since we're getting ready to add on to our house.  I'm getting lots of ideas.  Probably so many I'm going to drive our builder nuts.  Last week we went to look at some reclaimed barn wood for flooring at Appalachian Woods in nearby Stuarts Draft.  We've bought flooring and old beams from them in the past and have been really happy with it.  While we were there the salesman said, "your kitchen floor is on our website".  One of the salesman even has the picture on his business card.  We thought that was kind of cool.

Today I was doing a search for reclaimed barn wood flooring to help me decide what widths we might want.  I like seeing what other people have done with their house.  On the first search page of pinterest under that search our kitchen floor appeared.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/191684527859710670/
It took a moment for me to recognize it was our house.  I don't know why this continues to amuse me but it does.  I'll do a search for something and stumble upon my own blog or pictures from my blog.  I've been blogging for 6 1/2 years - 853 posts so there's a good chance Google will direct me to my own stuff since I find me so interesting :)

Today I'm making monterey jack cheese.  Those of you who make hard cheeses know it takes a long time to make but there's quite a bit of down time while waiting for cultures and rennet to do their jobs.  It's a very good excuse for me to waste time on my computer.  Stir curds, Google concrete sinks, stir curds some more, Google countertops.  Here's a concrete sink I'd like to make for our new bathroom.  Maybe not exactly this but something more free form than a typical sink.

I'm preparing now (lots of hours on Youtube) to rebuild a new concrete kitchen countertop with an integrated sink.  I made our countertops more than 10 years ago and they've been great but I know I can do a better job this time.  Also, after a year or so my kitchen sink got cracked and my countertop was built specifically for this sink.  It's not as easy as just installing a new one.  I think the original sink cost $800.00 and it now has risen to almost $1,700.00. I refuse to pay that for something that cracks so easily.  I tried tiling the bottom and sides of the sink but the grout is always dirty and tiles are constantly falling out.  I'm ready for something new and excited about working with concrete again.  Here are my concrete projects to date.  Remember this was 10+ years ago and my first attempts.

I think this round table was my next experiment.

Then our kitchen countertops.  Note, the cracked sink.

Lastly was our outdoor kitchen countertop and shelves around the pizza oven and bbq.

Looking at that last picture I see another project.  We're rebuilding the pergola.  We're just waiting for the cedar to dry before replacing the above 2X6s.  It smells heavenly just outside our back door.  Mmmmm, cedar.  Can you smell it?

One more thing about concrete.  Yesterday I helped with a really cool concrete bar.  My friends Jane and Shep Rouse own Rockbridge Vineyard.  They've added on a larger tasting room  The cool thing about the space is they've taken down the old silo to bar height and put a round countertop on it.  I was so excited to play a very little part in it.

Here's Jane vibrating the bubbles out of the concrete using an old sawzall without the blade.  I can't wait to see it when it's done.

My cheese is almost ready for the press and I'm about to write up my list of things to buy at Lowes so I can get my hands dirty.  I can't wait.  Oh my, where has the day gone?